


and he sees eight

by Grimmseye



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Found Family, Gen, Taako is Sentimental, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-23
Updated: 2018-02-23
Packaged: 2019-03-22 22:01:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13773468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grimmseye/pseuds/Grimmseye
Summary: Taako has a tattoo of six birds on his hip. Six birds, their wings outstretched, soaring across the plane of Taako's skin and triumphant in their splendor.It feels like they mean something — but this is Taako, so he can only begin to imagine what.





	and he sees eight

Taako has a tattoo of six birds on his hip. 

They survived the end of the world just over one month prior. Taako is wearing a baby blue crop-top, even though it's cold outside. It's long-sleeved and hangs above his belly-button, and that's when Angus sees them. 

The truth is that he's seen it before, but  _before_ his eyes always slid away before it could register, the memory always blurring over in his brain as the voidfish's influence will do. Now he sees six birds in flight, their wings outstretched, soaring across the plane of Taako's skin and triumphant in their splendor. 

It feels like they mean something — but this is Taako, so he can only begin to imagine  _ what.  _

They’re seated on the couch when he sees this, in the common room shared between him and Magnus and Merle. Their wands are on the table, Taako's feet propper up there as well. Angus is content to curl up on the couch, close to Taako but not quite touching. 

It's a familiar scene. The artificial moon will not be home forever, but it was the first he’s had in a long time, and for now he’s happy with that. 

“I didn’t know you had a tattoo, sir,” Is what Angus says, both an observation and an inquiry. Taako glances down to where he’s pointing, looks confused for a moment and then —  _ something.  _ Something he’s seen before but cannot name, a softening of the features, a dim light in his eyes. 

“You thinking of getting one?” He asks, phrased seriously but with a teasing crook to his mouth. “Cause I’m not your legal guardian but I’m sure they won’t say  _ no  _ if I sign off for you.”

And Angus huffs a small laugh. “No, not for me. I'm still just a kid." He's never thought about it before. Getting a permanent mark on the body, something that couldn't just be erased. He's certain Taako could find a way, but he's also certain Taako wouldn't need to. This isn't the sort of thing he would do so carelessly. "Does it mean something?”

He’s not really expecting a straight answer. It’s not Taako’s way to be sincere; everything is roundabouts and diversions with him. In a way, Angus likes it. He likes that he’s had to work to figure him out, that everything he knows is an achievement to take pride in. In another way, he hates it, because Angus loves to  _ know  _ and more than that he loves to be  _ certain  _ and the thing about Taako is that almost nothing about him is ever certain at all. 

But Taako considers his answer, and then he says, “Yeah. It’s, uh. Pretty important to me.” 

“Oh,” Angus says. Then, “Okay. Will you tell me what it means?”

“Nope!” He pops the ‘p’ and smirks. Predictable, again: it’s equal parts familiar and disappointing. 

" _ But…”  _ And here Taako pauses. He bites his lip, drums fingers on his knee. Then he grins, and he says, “But, I bet you can figure it out, boychik. Why don’t  _ you  _ tell  _ me?”  _

And that's something that piques his interest. “Like a puzzle, sir?” Angus’s voice comes out eager. 

“I guess so.” Taako puffs out a breath, smiles, and drops a hand into his hair to make Angus’s head bob under its weight. 

And. Well. There's not much Angus loves more than solving a good puzzle. 

  
  
  


_ Six birds.  _

_ The albatross heads their flight with valiant glory.  _

_ A dove twirls with a jay in a skybound embrace.  _

_ The eagle has his wings outstretched, a shield for them all.  _

_ Below soars the owl, wide and watchful eyes.  _

_ The finch takes the tail, small but mighty, unassuming in her grace.  _

  
  
  


“Oh,” Angus says, and his voice is soft. “Well, two of them are easy.” 

His fingers trace the birds that frame the image, the one above and the one below. The eagle and the owl. 

Magnus is a fighter, and even before that he is their shield. Loss did not make him brave, but love did. The eagle has its wings outstretched to guard them in its shadow, a willing target if it meant protecting those in its wake.

He smiles as he looks to the owl. “You know that owls aren’t actually very intelligent,” he said, a laugh in his voice. 

“Yeah, I know,” Taako lilts back. 

Angus snorts. “Merle doesn’t, though.” 

“Doubt it.”

Owls are symbols, though. And perhaps, in the end, it's still fitting. Merle does not often dish out advice — at least, not any worth following. There are moments of sobriety, though, that make him pause. Beneath a gruff exterior was someone who felt love deep in his heart.

The others take him a moment. “The jay is Barry, right?” He ventures. “Because it’s… blue?” He tips his head, considering. He thinks that Taako probably would be the type to use such shallow symbolism. It doesn't fit, though. The others are thoughtful, and Taako is always a stickler for matching sets. 

Taako makes a buzzing noise. “Incorrect-o-mundo,” he declares, shaking his head. “Well, about the second bit. You're right about it being Barry." 

Angus doesn’t know enough about birds to form a proper theory.For now, he has to move on to the next, the dove. 

“This one is Lup,” he says, and he’s certain of that. “Peace and love, right? That, uh. That doesn’t…” 

“Sound like my sister?” Taako finishes the thought for him. “Yeah, you’re right. I probably should have gone with a phoenix or some shit.” 

Angus ponders it for a moment. Lup is fire incarnate. He met her in a blaze of glory, scarlet robes wound about the manifestation of her soul as her passion and fury seared their foes to less than ash. She radiated power and inspired awe, but in that moment, taking in the powers of a lich, a soul infused with wrath and magic, Angus had never seen Taako appear so complete. 

“No,” Angus muses, “I actually think it fits.” 

The albatross only takes a second. The bird that carries voyagers to safety, to shoot it down spells a curse. Captain Davenport had lead his family for one hundred years and then further, to the end of the world and through it. He doesn't know the man well, but they all know his story. 

Angus knows, objectively, that the finch must be the Director.  _ Lucretia,  _ he reminds himself, she insists he calls her that now. Her bird lags faintly behind the flock, its wings bent down in a powerful stroke to keep pace with the others. Small, but strong. Plain, but fierce. Taako is quiet as Angus explains, a distant shadow in his eyes. 

Theirs was the damaged bond.  The birds had been inked here before he forgot, and Angus wonders what it might have looked like after, instead. 

“You got them all,” Taako tells him, maybe even sounding proud. “But you’re still missing a piece. Come back when it’s complete, boyo.” 

So Angus takes up a book on jays. Gorgeous birds, with plumage that shines. Resilient, and determined. They mate for life, he learns, and that tidbit makes him smile as he remembers the dove. 

  
  
  
  


In a year’s time, Angus looks to the birds on Taako’s hip, and he sees eight instead of six. 

Before that, he sees that the dove’s feathers have been tinted red, embers falling from the tips of her wings. Stars have joined them, now, so that they are gliding between glittering diamonds. 

Two have joined the flock. They are not in flight, do not appear to soar with the rest. The crow’s wings are angled down, beak in a peaceful tilt. It's inked differently: while the first designs were crafted with solid lines, this one appears to be painted on. Strokes of blue shine against the black, which bleeds across his skin into an ebony sky.

“Mister Kravitz must have been happy,” he notes, and Taako only hums. “I’m not sure who this one is for, though?”

He pokes the last one. A hummingbird, emerald and sapphire, it’s the smallest of the bunch. The wings become a watercolor blur that meld into the black trailing from the feathers of the crow, like ink mixing in a pool. 

“You really can't figure it out?” Taako prompts. “How much do you know about hummingbirds?”

“Not much,” Angus admits. “I’m surprised you do.” 

That earns him a snort and a flick on the forehead. “Okay, well, listen up, kiddo." He straightens, gives his pot a stir. "These little fuckers are a  _ pain.  _ They’re tiny but they’re not afraid to go after something big. Can do some wild stuff, too — pretty sure there aren’t any other birds that can fly  _ backwards.”  _

“Hovering, too,” Angus adds, and Taako is quick to agree. It’s strange, though, because he doesn’t look quite so mischievous now. There had been a glint in his eyes when Angus named the rest, but here he’s avoiding his gaze. His ears are twitching, something Angus has learned to recognize as a sign of nerves, the way he himself might fiddle with his glasses or Magnus would wring his hands.

“It sounds like whoever it is must be pretty impressive,” Angus finally says. 

And Taako gives a huff. “Don’t get a big head, kid.” 

He’s still not looking at him. 

Angus waits a beat, gauging his reaction. “I’m… not sure what you mean, sir?” He cocks his head. “As far as I know, that’s everyone you’re close to. Maybe Miss Ren, but it doesn’t seem to fit her.” He sorts through the names and the faces he knows, how he’s seen Taako smile around them — the smirk or the sneer or the grin that’s too wide and too perfect. Only a handful get the real thing, the crinkling eyes and the soft, slow, delighted draw of his lips around affection. 

It’s the smile Taako is wearing right now, his eyes flickering to Angus and then away again. He swears there’s fondness in there. 

“Oh,” Angus says. 

“You really deduced the shit out of that one,” Taako smirks, ruffling his hair. And Angus is a little bit embarrassed because letting emotional bias get in the way of objective fact is a rookie mistake for a detective of his caliber. His eyes burn a little bit and he draws in a breath that’s too sharp as he smiles and bobs his head. 

“Okay,” he says, voice high and raspy. “I believe I've solved your puzzle, sir.” 

“You sure did, hummingbird,” Taako says. He turns back to the pot on the stove to adjust the flame, and Angus takes that moment to remove his glasses and wipe his eyes. 

Taako is more sentimental than he would ever admit. He’s the one that gave Angus this puzzle, though. He’s the one that gave him the key.

**Author's Note:**

> First TAZ fanfic~  
> Found Family is probably my favorite trope so uhhhhh Taako and the IPRE crew fuck me right up. Throw Kravitz and Angus into that melting pot and I'm dead


End file.
